I'm 22 years old and a student at [http://www.smith.edu Smith College]. I'm originally from Newcastle, Australia. Previous programming projects include [http://www.matmice.com MatMice.com], an online homepage builder used by more than one million children worldwide (Perl/PostgreSQL). Previous involvement with open source includes developing the new [http://www.postgresql.org PostgreSQL.org] website. For the Google Summer of Code, I'll be working on the FreeBSD website. My mentor is MurrayStokely.

Following are some of my ideas for a redesign of the FreeBSD website. MurrayStokely also has a good list of ideas, so I'll try not to duplicate here.

• The number of navigation elements should be minimized, and content grouped into sections.
• Graphics should be kept to a minimum, and not used for headings or navigation elements.
• For accessibility, an option to enlarge the text size should be available.

• The link to “Get FreeBSD” should be highly visible.
• Navigation and important content should be visible without scrolling.
• Quick links should be provided to commonly sought pages (e.g. mailing lists).
• Text should be minimal, and limited to a single paragraph describing FreeBSD (a link to “Learn More” could contain the content currently on the FreeBSD homepage).
• To keep the homepage fresh, three to four headlines and dates for each of the following content areas should appear on the homepage: latest news, upcoming events, in the media, security advisories, erata notices.

• The current site only has top level navigation; an optional second level navigation is necessary.
• Layout and top level navigation should be consistent across the entire site.

• [http://www.emilyboyd.com/design/freebsd/homepage_proposal.png Homepage design]
• [http://www.emilyboyd.com/design/freebsd/secondpage_proposal.png Secondary page design]

Feedback is welcome; please email soc-emily at freebsd.org

Following is a rough timeline for implementing a redesign of the FreeBSD website.

Mon 18 Jul

• Complete initial design proposal (including homepage and secondary page).

Tue 19 Jul - Tue 2 Aug

• Propose design to FreeBSD community, and work on revisions.
• Become familiar with FreeBSD website setup.

Wed 3 Aug - Sun 7 Aug

• If design approved by community, code the design in valid XHTML/CSS.
• Browser testing of coded design.

Mon 8 Aug - Thu 25 Aug

• Implement design template on FreeBSD website, re-coding pages where necessary to meet standards.

Fri 26 Aug - Wed 31 Aug

• Testing and fixes.

Thu 1 Sep

• Redesigned website launch.